Chapter 63 Rainforest Dungeon

In the first place, what makes an RPG game a good game?

Is it the interaction between characters?

Is it the open world?

Is it the way you can build your character?

The answer to that question is, above all.

If an RPG game is good, that means it contains good interactions between characters. Nobody would want to play a game or read a book that contains forced dialogues and a main character without personality.

However, that doesn't mean the game should only focus on dialogues. Without seeing the world you are playing, how can you relate with the main character enough?

At the same time, when you build your world, you need to put elements that attract the attention of players. And the easiest way to do that is to put elements that strengthen your main character in various ways.

The reason why I liked the game Chronicles of Aeris is that this game does all those things above so well until a certain point that it gets you on the hook.

You can play the game as a normal swordsman, as a heavy swordsman, as a spearman, as a shield-spear user, as an archer, as a samurai, as an assassin(rogue), as a duelist and lastly, as a magician.

However, the trick is the game presents the enemies in such a way that you need to try at least two different classes as a player.

The way it does this is pretty simple.

Some enemies have huge magic resistance but low physical resistance and some enemies are in reverse.

And that is the reason why I am also trying to learn how to use my sword and improve it.

Because I know there will be certain enemies with huge magic resistance, which this world will need to face.

Then what will happen when I encounter such an enemy?

Will I have to rely on others to defeat it?

That is unacceptable.

No matter what, if you are relying on others for the things concerning yourself, then you are a failure as a person.

This is my motto, at least.

If I am going to do something, I will do it alone.

Anyway, enough with the boring talk.

That was basically the reason why I am camping in the vicinity of the rainforests.

I took the 20 hours of right with three periods of riding. Ride for 7 hours and camp for three to four hours.

Thanks to that, I reached this place around 33 hours later, and I am pretty tired, so I will be resting for a while.

***

After resting for three hours or so, I started preparing myself.

Since this is a rainforest with trees that are frequent, it will be hard for me to ride Night, so I will be resummoning him to the space.

The dungeon I am trying to visit contains material I will need to upgrade my sword.

'Soul-eater stone. A material from another world that can only be found in dungeons.'

That material is important material since it makes your weapon a growth-type. And as the name suggests, the condition for growth is simply feeding souls to your weapon.

Of course, there are other weapons with souls attached to them outside, but I won't abandon the sword I have always used.

With that, I finished preparing everything.

/CLIP/ /CLOP/

After riding for ten minutes or so, I reached the entrance of the forest.

"Now, it is your time to turn back…. I will give you a lot of snacks after I come back, okay?"

Slowly patting the head of Night, I resummoned him making him disappear.

/PITTER/ /PATTER/ /PITTER/ /PATTER/ /WHUMPF/

After that, I slowly approached the ominous-looking forest raining.

The moment I entered the forest, my vision was darkened because of the lack of light. Those who went to a dense forest would know because of the thick leaves; the sunlight wouldn't be able to enter the undersurface, making it dark even in the morning.

Grabbing a magic-supplied lantern, I started walking.

Sometimes opening my way with my sword….

Sometimes getting injured from the stinging plants….

At the very least, it would be a long journey.

***

Of course, when there is a wild life, there are bound to be animals living there as well.

However, in this world, the words 'wild animals' mean monsters.

"Hooo!" "Hooo!."

/SWOOSH/

After walking for approximately thirty minutes, I encountered my first monsters. Dodging the rock thrown at me, I turned my head towards the monsters in the trees.

"Blood Monkeys, it really has to be you."

/SCHLINK/

Mumbling like that, I grabbed my sword.

'A monkey-originated two-star monster that can use blood magic. Their defense is not that high, but they are fast. Need to be careful about their grab attacks.'

Thinking that, I started waiting for an attack to come.

/SWOOSH/ /THUD/

And it came not long after. Dodging the jumping monkey trying to bite my neck with an elbow strike, I knocked it down.

"HUAAA!"

/STAB/ /PIERCE/

And pierced its heart, killing him with that one strike.

"Hoooo!" "Hoooo!"

However, another reason why they are hard to deal with is because of their blood magic.

The moment I killed the monkey, its blood started rising.

'Which one is using the magic?'

Yes, they are using their own kin's blood for their magic, so the more you kill them, the stronger their magic will get.

'All Seeing Eye.'

Opening my eyes, I scanned around, only to see red mana particles channeling from the body of a monkey.

'Stop for a moment.'

/FLICK/

Immediately flicking my fingers, I directed the lightning mana around to the goblin using magic, paralyzing it while stopping its chant as well.

"Hoooo!" "Hooooo!"

However, other ones were not staying idle either.

/SWOOSH/ /SWOOSH/

Another two monkeys dashed on me from the leaves, trying to attack me.

/THUD/

Immediately rotating my body to the side, I avoided the first one making it fall to the ground.

/CRACK/

And with my aura imbuing my body, I attacked the other one with my knee, knocking its head off.

/SMASH/ /SMASH/

Then smashed the head of the other one with two strong stamps, my aura imbued to my body, killing it.

/SWOOSH/

Then without retracting my aura, I jumped to the tree the one I had paralyzed before was standing.

/STAB/ /PIERCE/

And stabbed its neck without wasting any time.

Just like that, all of the monkeys in the vicinity died.

'I need to act fast, and other blood monkeys will react to the blood of their kin.'

Concluding that fact, I started picking up my speed.

Since everyone's aura is related to their own characteristics, mine is blue, and it is related to speed.

Albeit I won't be able to keep my aura for too long, it will be enough to reach the second circle of the forest.

With that concluded, I started running while avoiding monsters as much as I could, not looking my back at all….

***

In the first place, every forest or wilderness place has its own circles.

By saying 'circles,' what I mean is that when you pass a certain point, the strength of monsters will increase.

And for the case of this forest, the monsters in the second circle will start reaching peak two-star and three-star bands.

And, of course, in general, the borderlines of those circles will be devoid of monsters since weaker ones wouldn't want to come near there, and stronger ones have no reason to do so.

Which is the place I am staying right now.

After running with my aura intact for approximately thirty hours, I finally managed to see the marks of stronger monsters.

'There are claw marks all around the leaves. They are deep, meaning this place was used for a long time.'

'However, those marks are not fresh.'

'A little while back, this place must have been the habitat of Harpies.'

'However, almost all of them left at the same time. Something must have driven them out.'

'If such a huge number of monsters were driven, then that means I am in the territory of Bird Eater.'

'That is good. It won't be interested in me anyway, so it is a good place to rest.'

Concluding that, I started setting my camp.

As the name suggests, Bird Eater is a type of monster that feeds on bird meat. However, the critical thing is that it 'only' eats bird meat. So, it is not interested in human meat at all.

However, I still need to be vigilant not to make him recognize me as an enemy.

Just like that, I finished setting up my tent and started resting while eating a bunch of dry meat with a water supply.

***

After resting and meditating for an hour or so, I started packing my things up.

Since my aura reserves were filled, I was ready to move right away.

'I should avoid fighting with monsters as much as possible since they will be strong.'

'At least I am close to the entrance of the dungeon.'

With those thoughts, I left the place.

I am a little cold, but it is nothing unbearable.

Packing up my speed, I started running in the forest while paying attention to the sounds of monsters and other signs.

Albeit, I was able to avoid monsters thanks to my good perception and my high speed.

After running for almost another hour, I was finally able to reach the place I wanted.

A cave in the middle of the rainforest.

However, there was one thing different from the game.

'Sigh…. The harpies really needed to move in front of the dungeon, weren't they.'

It was the huge flock of harpies standing in front of the cave the dungeon was in….